At least 20 people were killed in a triple car bombing attack Monday in central Somalia, among them two local government officials. Witnesses said two vehicles loaded with explosives detonated in the morning, and a third in the afternoon.

The three explosions rocked the city of Beledweyne in central Somalia, killing at least 20 people and injuring dozens more.

Beledweyne police commissioner Bishar Hussein Jimale confirmed the attacks and the death of some local officials.

Jimale said the attacks were planned by al-Shabab, killing officials, civilians and soldiers. He said the victims including the deputy commissioner of finance in the Hiran region and MPs and ministers in Hirshabelle.

Jimale added that rescue operations were still in progress, working to find injured people who are trapped as well as to recover bodies.

“We mourn but we do not cry,” he said in Somali, “and we will take revenge against al-Shabab.”

The U.N. office in Somalia said in a tweet it condemned the attack and sent condolences to the families of the victims.

Two of the bomb attacks struck the Lama Galaay military base, which hosts the offices of the regional president and several local government officials.

One car bomb detonated near the entrance gate, then witnesses said a truck rushed toward the headquarters building and exploded. The third car bomb exploded while heading to the same target.

The attacks come barely a day after the Somali government announced the death of a senior al-Shabab commander identified as Abdulkadir Nadir in an airstrike in the Middle Juba region.

Nadir, who served as al-Shabab’s finance chief was touted to replace the group’s leader Ahmed Diriye, or Abu Ubaidah, who is reported to be sick. He had a $3 million bounty on his head from the U.S. government.

The Somali government described Nadir’s killing as a “thorn removed from the Somali nation.”

The Somali government is involved in a major counterterrorism offensive against al-Shabab in the central regions of the country. The operation has gained the support of local tribal militias in Hiran and Galgaduud who have joined forces with federal and state government authorities.
…

your ad here

In Cameroon, thousands of people are marching to call for peace in the country’s separatist conflict. The daily peace marches, which began on Friday and are slated to continue through Tuesday, come on the third anniversary of talks designed to end the fighting. Marchers say authorities need to do more to return peace to the restive western regions, where fighting has killed about 3,500 people since 2017.

The protesters, a majority of them women, say hardly a day goes by without cases of killings, abduction, rape and torching of public edifices in the Northwest and Southwest regions.

Monday’s peace march was organized by a non-governmental organization called Cameroon, Peace and National Unity. Its president, Clementine Mvogo, said the peace march marks the third anniversary of government-organized peace talks called the Major National Dialogue.

“The culture of peace is still very much absent in Cameroon since the holding in Yaounde of a Major National Dialogue from September 30 to October 4 2019. The ongoing peace march in Yaounde is to make the quest for peace a daily struggle of all Cameroonians. All civilians and civil society movements should be concerned about the return of peace to Cameroon,” Mvogo said.

After that dialogue, Cameroon’s President Paul Biya implemented recommendations to give the Northwest and Southwest regions more power, including the creation of regional assemblies and elected regional presidents.

Zacchaeus Bakuma Elango, president of the Southwest regional assembly, said outreach efforts to the armed separatist groups continue.

“We’re doing everything we can to convince them to lay down their arms and come to the negotiation table. We have families who have been displaced, children who have not gone to schools for five years, so what becomes of them? Are we coming up with a generation of semi-illiterates?” said Elango.

Elango said some people have realized that war is not the answer.

“As the years go by, more and more people are beginning to understand that we are in the same country. There were problems and those problems progressively are being addressed and the situation is improving.”

As evidence of that, he notes that tens of thousands of people who fled the fighting have returned to Southwest towns and villages in Manyu, Lebialem, Meme, Ndian, Fako and Koupe Manengouba administrative units. Elango said several hundred schools sealed by fighters in the region have been reopened.

The government says after the dialogue, powers were given to a national commission for the promotion of bilingualism to give equal status to the English and French languages, in order to reduce domination by the French-speaking majority.

David Abouem a Tchoyi, a member of the commission, said the conflict still persists because many separatist leaders refused to take part in the dialogue.

“I regret bitterly that some of our brothers and sisters, especially those who are abroad, couldn’t be part of that jamboree. When I read the recommendations, I saw some of them which could be game changers and I think it is important to note that the head of state said that the recommendations should be implemented according to the means and the capabilities of the state.”

Three years on, the prospects for peace talks remain stalled. Some separatist groups say they are not ready for any dialogue, while others say the talks should be held outside Cameroon. Separatist leaders based in Europe and the United States have expressed concern they will be arrested on charges of terrorism if they come home for peace talks.

Cameroon maintains that the 2019 dialogue was successful and no talks will be organized outside the country.

The stalemate doesn’t bode well for peace in the western regions, and suggests that Yaounde will see more marches like the ones taking place this week.
…

your ad here

The United Nations humanitarian office on Somalia says the country is still teetering on the edge of famine.  

Ian Ridley, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, in Somalia says there are almost eight million people in need of assistance and over one million people who have been internally displaced.  

Somalia has already experienced four failed rainy seasons dating back to October 2020, Ridley told VOA’s Somali service.  

Although it should be the beginning of the rainy season in Somalia, Ridley said, the forecast indicates the period will not bring the much-needed moisture.  

“We’re all hoping and praying that the rains will come, but based on the recent patterns I think the weather forecast and the climatologists are telling us there’s a high probability that this next rainy season from October to December will fail,” he said in a telephone interview Sunday. 

“That increases the risk of famine, and I would say we are teetering on the edge of famine particularly in Baidoa, and Burhakaba and particularly amongst IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) in Baidoa.”  

He said humanitarian agencies are now focusing all efforts on Baidoa and Burhakaba districts.    

“The humanitarian community is really scaling up in support of the government to support people there to ensure that we can avert famine,” he said.  

Humanitarian groups threatened

He said agencies are facing challenges including security and accessibility, which increases worries about the humanitarian situation in areas controlled by the Islamist militant group, al-Shabab.  

“What we’re concerned about are people in the rural areas that are more difficult to reach, areas that are under the control of non-state armed groups, al-Shabab specifically,” he said. “We’re concerned about those areas, but we must continue to push out of the cities and towns into the rural areas and reach as many people as possible.”    

Last week, officials in Somalia’s Jubaland state said the al-Shabab militant group killed 12 people drilling a well in the vicinity of Geriley village. The attack was preceded by al-Shabab raids targeting water wells in Galmudug and Hirshabelle states which the group destroyed in apparent retaliation of the local populations’ mobilization in support of government operations.  

Meanwhile, a humanitarian worker in Somalia who requested not be identified for safety reasons told VOA Somali that on Saturday suspected al-Shabab militants also fired on a vehicle belonging a local aid organization in the south of the country.  

“That marks a worrying turn in the situation when humanitarians are targeted. We do get worried,” Ridley said. “We need to understand exactly what’s happened before we draw conclusions, but I think it is reasonable to assume that there are forces, non-state armed groups in these areas that don’t want humanitarians doing their work. So, it’s a huge concern.”  

Infrastructure at risk

On the recent clashes between the federal government forces supported by local fighters on one hand, and al-Shabab, Ridley said he is concerned that humanitarian workers can “get caught up” in the crossfire of the fighting. Another concern is that when there is a conflict in an area, telephone masts, clinics, schools, grain stores and water points are destroyed, he said.  

“So, this new conflict marks, if you like, an increase in the number of people that are requiring humanitarian assistance.”   

He said all sides to the conflict need to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law to allow aid workers to get unfettered access to populations, and for civilians to have access to assistance as well.  

“Humanitarians shouldn’t be targeted, assistance should not be diverted, and humanitarian space needs to be given so that the national NGOs (non-government organizations), the international NGOs and the United Nations can get on with their work and serve people in need.” 
…

your ad here

Burkina Faso’s ousted coup leader Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba left the country for Togo Sunday two days after he himself was overthrown in a coup, while the new junta urged citizens not to loot or vandalize.

Damiba’s departure was confirmed by two diplomats who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. It was not known whether Togo was his final destination.

Earlier Sunday, religious leaders who had mediated between the factions said that Damiba had offered his resignation as long as his security and other conditions were met. A junta representative later announced on state television that their leader, Capt. Ibrahim Traore, officially has been named head of state following the Friday coup that ousted Damiba.

Their power grab marked Burkina Faso’s second military coup this year, deepening fears that the political chaos could divert attention from an Islamic insurgency whose violence has killed thousands and forced 2 million to flee their homes. It followed unrest in Ouagadougou, the capital, in which mobs on Saturday attacked the French embassy and other French-related sites, wrongly believing that they were sheltering Damiba.

Along with agreeing not to harm or prosecute him, Damiba also asked Traore and the new junta leadership to respect the commitments already made to the West African regional bloc ECOWAS. Damiba, who came to power in a coup last January, had recently reached an agreement to hold an election by 2024.

In a statement late Sunday, ECOWAS said it would be sending a team of mediators to Ouagadougou on Monday including former Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou.

The ECOWAS statement, signed by Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, noted that Damiba had resigned “in order to avoid a violent confrontation and possible bloodshed.”

Earlier in the day, the new junta leadership had called for an end to the unrest that engulfed Ouagadouou in wake of Friday night’s coup.

In a statement broadcast on state television, junta representative Capt. Kiswendsida Farouk Azaria Sorgho called on people to “desist from any act of violence and vandalism” especially those against the French Embassy or the French military base.

Anti-French sentiment rose sharply after the new junta alleged that interim president Damiba was sheltering at a French military base following his ouster. France vehemently denied the allegation, but soon protesters with torches thronged the perimeter of the French Embassy in Ouagadougou.

Saturday’s violence was condemned by the French Foreign Ministry, which denied any involvement in the rapidly developing events. French Institutes in Ouagadougou and the country’s second-largest city, Bobo-Dioulasso, had also been targeted and French citizens were urged to be very cautious.

“The situation is very volatile in Burkina Faso,” a French spokeswoman told The Associated Press on Sunday.

Damiba came to power in January promising to secure the country from jihadi violence. However, the situation only deteriorated as jihadis imposed blockades on towns and have intensified attacks. Last week, at least 11 soldiers were killed and 50 civilians went missing after a supply convoy was attacked by gunmen in Gaskinde commune in the Sahel. The group of officers led by Traore said Friday that Damiba had failed and was being removed.

To some in Burkina Faso’s military, Damiba also was seen as too cozy with former colonizer France, which maintains a military presence in Africa’s Sahel region to help countries fight Islamic extremists.

Some who support the new coup leader, Traore, have called on Burkina Faso’s government to seek Russian support instead. Outside the state broadcaster on Sunday, supporters of Traore were seen cheering and waving Russian flags.

In neighboring Mali, the coup leader has invited Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group to help with security, a move than has drawn global condemnation and accusations of human rights abuses.

Conflict analysts say Damiba was probably too optimistic about what he could achieve in the short term but that a change at the top didn’t mean that the country’s security situation would improve.

“The problems are too profound and the crisis is deeply rooted,” said Heni Nsaibia, a senior researcher at the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, adding that “militant groups will most likely continue to exploit” the country’s political disarray.

 
…

your ad here

Burkina Faso’s junta leader Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba on Saturday urged junior officers to “come to their senses” after they said they ousted him in a reported coup that sparked deep concern among foreign leaders.

The officers on Friday said they had toppled Damiba, accusing him of failure to quell jihadist attacks. It is the second coup this year in the West African country, and the latest in the Sahel region, much of which is battling a growing Islamist insurgency.

Making his first comments since the putsch, Damiba in a written statement urged his rivals “to come to their senses to avoid a fratricidal war that Burkina Faso doesn’t need.”

He rejected allegations by the army officers who seized power that he was hiding in a French base but provided no further details about his location.

Damiba himself came to power in a coup in January. He installed himself as leader of the country’s 16 million people after accusing elected president Roch Marc Christian Kabore of failing to beat back jihadist fighters. But the insurgency has raged on.

Damiba “is believed to have taken refuge in the French base at Kamboinsin in order to plan a counter-offensive to stir up trouble in our defense and security forces,” the junior officers said Saturday in a statement read out on national television and signed by Captain Ibrahim Traore, the country’s new leader.

In his comments on the presidency’s official Facebook page, Damiba called that claim an attempt “to manipulate opinion.”

France, the former colonial power in Burkina Faso, via its embassy earlier Saturday also denied “any involvement of the French army in the events of the last few hours.”

It denied “rumors that Burkinabe authorities have been hosted or are under the protection of the French military.”

The general staff of Burkina Faso’s army dismissed the coup as an “internal crisis” within the military, and said dialogue was “ongoing” to remedy the situation.

‘Burkina Faso needs peace’

Among a wave of international criticism, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “strongly condemns any attempt to seize power by the force of arms and calls on all actors to refrain from violence and seek dialogue,” his spokesperson said.

“Burkina Faso needs peace, stability and unity to fight terrorist groups and criminal networks operating in parts of the country,” the U.N. statement added.

Jihadist violence has also prompted a series of coups in Mali, Guinea and Chad since 2020.

The new Burkina Faso putschists said they were willing “to go to other partners ready to help in the fight against terrorism.”

No country was explicitly mentioned but Russia, whose influence is growing in French-speaking Africa, is among the possible partners in question.

France has a contingent of military special forces based in Kamboinsin which is about 30 kilometers from the capital, Ouagadougou.

A few hours before the coup Friday, hundreds of people had rallied in the capital seeking the departure of Damiba, the end of France’s military presence in the Sahel and military cooperation with Russia.

Gunfire, helicopters

The situation in the capital was tense on Saturday, with gunfire and soldiers deployed in the streets.

Helicopters hovered above the city and shops shut their doors.

Late Saturday, a French government spokesperson strongly condemned “violence” against its embassy after an AFP reporter said he saw a fire outside the building in Ouagadougou.

Witnesses said there was also a fire in front of the French Institute in the western city of Bobo-Dioulasso.

African Union chief Moussa Faki Mahamat condemned the “unconstitutional change of government” in Burkina Faso.

The European Union warned the latest coup put in danger efforts towards restoring constitutional order by July 2024, while the U.S. government said it was “deeply concerned.”

Damiba accused of failure

Just before 8 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Friday, more than a dozen soldiers in fatigues appeared on the state television and radio broadcaster to announce Damiba’s removal.

They proclaimed 34-year-old Captain Traore in charge. He was previously head of the anti-jihadist special forces unit “Cobra” in the northern region of Kaya.

“Damiba failed,” said Habibata Rouamba, a trader and activist.

“Since he came to power, the zones that were peaceful were attacked. He took power but then he betrayed us.”

The new leaders suspended the constitution, sealed the borders, dissolved the transitional government and legislative assembly, and instituted a 9 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew.

More than 40% of Burkina Faso remains outside government control.

In the north and east, towns have been blockaded by insurgents who have blown up bridges and attacked supply convoys.

Thousands have died and about 2 million have been displaced by the fighting since 2015, when the insurgency spread to Burkina Faso from Mali.
…

your ad here

Chad on Saturday extended the transition period to democratic elections, while keeping the head of the military junta on as head of state in the interim.

The decisions were made by a national reconciliation dialogue forum, which has been boycotted by most opposition members, two out of three key armed rebel groups and civil society organizations.  

The forum adopted by “consensus” a measure to “extend the transition for a maximum of 24 months.”  

The hundreds of delegates also decided that junta leader Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno would not only continue as transitional president but be eligible to run for the presidency when elections are held.  

Government spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah said there would be a debate on Monday before an official decision is announced. 

Deby took over in April last year after his father, Idriss Deby Itno, the country’s ruler for 30 years, was killed during a military operation against rebels.

He had pledged to hand back power to civilians after 18 months, a deadline that would run out this month.

He also pledged to Chadians and the international community that he would not run in the upcoming presidential elections.  

After coming to power, the junta of 15 generals, called the Transitional Military Council, scrapped the constitution, dissolved parliament and dismissed the government.

The international community had urged Deby not to extend the transition beyond 18 months before the return of civilian rule, and not to run for president in the eventual elections.

However, in June last year, the junta leader dealt a first blow to those hopes, envisaging another 18 months of transition “if the Chadians do not manage to reach an agreement” on the way forward.

He also said then that he would leave the question of his presidential candidacy to God. 
…

your ad here

Gunshots rang out Saturday in Burkina Faso’s capital and soldiers deployed in the streets as tensions lingered a day after military officers overthrew the man who had seized power in a coup only nine months earlier in the West African nation.

The whereabouts of ousted interim president Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba remained unknown, and his opponents accused him of seeking refuge at a French military base. France vehemently denied that it had anything to do with the developments in Burkina Faso, saying it never hosted Damiba in the military camp nor the embassy.

Capt. Ibrahim Traore, who was named in charge after the Friday evening coup was announced on state television, said in his first interview that he and his men did not seek to harm Damiba.

“If we wanted, we would take him within five minutes of fighting and maybe he would be dead, the president. But we don’t want this catastrophe,” Traore told Voice of America. “We don’t want to harm him, because we don’t have any personal problem with him. We’re fighting for Burkina Faso.”

Roads remained blocked off in Ouagadougou, the capital, where a helicopter could be heard flying overhead. An internal security analysis for the European Union seen by The Associated Press said there was “abnormal military movement” in the city.

As uncertainty prevailed, the international community widely condemned the ouster of Damiba, who himself overthrew the country’s democratically elected president in January. The African Union and the West African region bloc known as ECOWAS sharply criticized the developments.

“ECOWAS finds this new power grab inappropriate at a time when progress has been made,” the bloc said, citing the recent agreement that Damiba had made to return to constitutional order by July 2024.

After taking power in January, Damiba promised to end the Islamic extremist violence that has forced 2 million people to flee their homes in Burkina Faso. But the group of officers led by Traore said Friday that Damiba had failed and so was being removed.

The new junta leadership said it would commit “all fighting forces to refocus on the security issue and the restoration of the integrity of our territory.”

But it remains to be seen whether the junta can turn around the crisis. Concerns already were mounting Saturday that the latest political volatility would further distract the military and allow the jihadis to strengthen their grip on swaths of the once-peaceful country.

Damiba had addressed the nation in September, claiming “our efforts have begun to bear fruit at the military operational level.” Yet only two days later, a roadside bomb struck a military convoy in the north, killing at least 35 people.

This week, at least 11 soldiers were killed and 50 civilians went missing after gunmen attacked a supply convoy in Gaskinde in Soum province in the Sahel.

Friday’s developments felt all too familiar in West Africa, where a coup in Mali in August 2020 set off a series of military power grabs in the region. Mali also saw a second coup nine months after the August 2020 overthrow of its president, when the junta’s leader sidelined his civilian transition counterparts and put himself alone in charge.

Chrysogone Zougmore, president of the Burkina Faso Movement for Human Rights, called the latest overthrow “very regrettable,” saying the political instability would not help in the fight against Islamic extremist violence.

“How can we hope to unite people and the army if the latter is characterized by such serious divisions?” Zougmore said. “It is time for these reactionary and political military factions to stop leading Burkina Faso adrift.”
…

your ad here

A top Somali police official and several of his guards were killed Friday in a roadside bomb blast near the southern town of Balad, according to Somali authorities.

The attack involved a landmine that targeted Mogadishu Police Commissioner Farhan Mohamoud Adan, better known as “Qarole,” near the Balad district, 35 kilometers north of Mogadishu.

“The police commissioner stepped out of his bulletproof vehicle as he was visiting a government military post and then a landmine apparently planted there went off, killing the commissioner and an unidentified number of police officers accompanying him,” a government official who requested anonymity told VOA Somali. “It’s part of the ongoing efforts to eradicate al-Shabab. They will be remembered for their role in Somalia’s anti-al-Shabab operations.”

Somali police Major Sadiq Aden Ali-Doodishe, who spoke to VOA after the blast, confirmed the incident, but he could not provide further details about the nature of the blast or the number of casualties.

Ali-Doodishe said the attack occurred during security operations targeting the Basra village area on the border of the Middle and Lower Shabelle regions.

“The commissioner was in the middle of a successful operation that flushed out terrorists from these areas when he was targeted by a blast,” the police major said. “We ask God to have mercy on the martyrs who died, and may God bless those who were injured.”

Ali-Doodishe added that such attacks would never deter Somali soldiers in their fight against terrorism. “Terrorism is a threat to life. We will never be diverted from our goal of ensuring the security of the country and the elimination of terrorism,” he said.

Authorities blamed the al-Qaida-linked Islamist group al-Shabab for the attack, though no one had yet claimed responsibility.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud condemned the attack in a statement. “Commissioner Aden and [the] other valiant soldiers who have died in the blast dedicated their life for Somalia’s peace,” he said.

Speaking at a government-sponsored youth conference Friday in Mogadishu, Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre called on Somali youth to unite in the fight against what he called “a ruthless enemy.” He was referring to al-Shabab, which has been waging a bloody insurgency in the impoverished Horn of Africa nation for more than 15 years.

“Somali religious scholars have made their positions [clear] on our fight against al-Shabab. Al-Shabab does not represent Islam nor Muslims. Therefore, there is a responsibility for Somali youth to participate [in] the efforts to eradicate al-Shabab so that the innocent Somalis suffering under al-Shabab’s enmity and ruthlessness will be freed,” Barre said.

Ethiopia coordination

Analysts say government counterterrorism operations were stepped up after the group’s brazen cross-border attack into eastern Ethiopia in late July.

On Friday, in Addis Ababa, Mohamud concluded his state visit to Ethiopia, where he held talks with Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

It was Mohamud’s first visit to neighboring Ethiopia since he was elected in May. The top priority of his agenda was regional support in the fight against al-Shabab in Somalia.

In a joint communique, Mohamud and Ahmed agreed to strengthen ties, reiterating their intention to fight against a common enemy. They also applauded the Somali National Army’s gains in anti-al-Shabab operations, and they called on the U.N. Security Council to consider Somalia’s request to lift the arms embargo.

Middle, Lower Shabelle

The killing of Mogadishu’s police chief followed a government operation Friday that removed militants from multiple villages along the border between the Middle and Lower Shabelle regions.

Somalia Defense Minister Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur told the Somali National News Agency that troops also had razed several al-Shabab barracks in nine villages.

“These gains are achieved following well-coordinated operations in the early hours of this Friday,” Nur said.

In the Hiran region of central Somalia, a counterterrorism military campaign backing a pro-government local clan militia has been making significant gains, Somali National Army officials said Thursday. They said they had secured control of at least 50 villages and al-Shabab strongholds.

The anti-al-Shabab campaign follows the Somali president’s call for all Somalis to fight against al-Shabab.

Falastin Iman contributed to this report from Mogadishu.
…

your ad here

Kenyan health officials are investigating a suspected case of Ebola in the country’s west near Uganda, where an outbreak of the deadly virus has been blamed for at least 35 cases and seven deaths.

Kenya is on high alert after one patient suspected to have Ebola is being treated at St. Mary’s Hospital in western Kenya.

St. Mary’s Hospital administrator Hildah Apwao told reporters the man recently traveled to Uganda and visited a health facility there for treatment of a cut. The man is now in an isolation unit at St. Mary’s hospital located in Mumias, Kakamega County awaiting laboratory results.

Kenya’s neighbor, Uganda, has recorded 35 Ebola cases and seven deaths since the first case was confirmed last week.

The current outbreak of Ebola is attributed to the Ebola Sudan strain and is believed to have started in the Mubende district in central Uganda.

Last week, Kenya issued health guidelines — like screening travelers from Uganda — following the outbreak. East African health experts advised against closing the border to deal with the virus.

Health officials in Kenya called for more awareness about the disease and better follow-up if symptoms are witnessed. Ebola is a disease spread through contact with an infected person’s body fluids. Symptoms include body aches, vomiting and internal bleeding.

Uganda recorded the presence of a different strain of the virus in 2019 and the Sudan strain was found in 2012.
…

your ad here

Kenya’s newly elected President William Ruto, who talked tough on China while campaigning, has reversed his stance on Beijing since taking office.

“We cherish the robust friendship that Kenya enjoys with China. We will step up and expand these relations, on infrastructure, agriculture, education, among other broad array of issues for the mutual benefit of our countries,” Ruto said when he met with Liu Yuxi, China’s special representative on African affairs, shortly after taking office.

During his campaign, Ruto ran on an anti-China platform, vowing to deport Chinese nationals doing jobs he said should be reserved for Kenyans, promising to make opaque government contracts with Beijing public and pledging to cut borrowing.

Only a few months ago, at a June economic forum, Ruto was reported as saying, “Chinese nationals are roasting maize and selling mobile phones. We will deport all of them.”

The language of his new administration, however, contrasts sharply with the strident tones he used on the campaign trail.

Last week, National Assembly speaker Moses Wetangula met with Beijing’s ambassador to Kenya, Zhou Pingjian, and he assured him of Kenya’s continued cooperation.

“China is one of the most important national development partners for Kenya and has in the last decade extended considerable support to our infrastructure development,” he said in a statement. Wetangula also “assured him that the new administration of President William Ruto has no plans whatsoever to scale down” Kenya’s collaboration with Beijing.

“[I am] delighted that China is also seeking to further enhance our strategic economic partnership, and people-people relations,” he added.

China is Kenya’s biggest bilateral lender and has been responsible for major infrastructure projects, including the recently opened Nairobi Expressway and the controversial and expensive Chinese-built Standard Gauge Railway, which links the capital with the key port city of Mombasa.

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta had signed deals with Beijing on infrastructure projects to develop Kenya, resulting in Kenyan debt to China in the billions of dollars. Ruto was Kenyatta’s deputy. The two men had a falling out, and during the campaign Ruto made a point of trying to distance himself from his boss and alleged corruption.

‘More pragmatic’ situation

The about-face in the new administration’s position on China since taking office is a typical case of the reality of politics winning the day, according to analysts.

“It was entirely predicted and predictable that President Ruto would resile and soft-pedal on his initial Chinese comments,” Aly-Khan Satchu, a political economist in Nairobi, told VOA. “I think we’ve just returned to a more pragmatic policymaking situation. You can’t upset one of your biggest creditors.”

Adhere Cavince, an independent Kenyan analyst and China specialist, echoed this view, saying: “Whatever happened in the campaign doesn’t seem to hold a lot of water, especially now that he has won the seat and he has the responsibility to govern the country. Campaigning is quite different from governing and sometimes the dynamic drastically changes.

“It is clear that William Ruto does not intend to reduce or scale down cooperation between Kenya and China,” he added.

Cavince said a number of factors could account for the change of heart, including the fact there are 400 Chinese companies operating in the country employing tens of thousands of Kenyans, and China is the East African country’s biggest trading partner.

While a large trade imbalance exists between the two, China has made efforts recently to offset them, allowing more exports from Kenya, including of the country’s avocados.

There are also growing cultural ties between the two, with more and more young Kenyans going to China to study, Cavince said.

And he noted it’s not only about Kenya needing China.

“Kenya presents a very formidable gateway into the east and central Africa regions, the markets. … There’s an incentive for China to court Kenya, so it is not a one-way street,” he said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping sent Ruto a message of congratulations shortly after he won the election in August.

“I attach great importance to the development of China-Kenya relations and stand ready to work with President Ruto to advance the development of the China-Kenya comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership to the benefit of the two countries and two peoples,” said China’s leader.

One policy reversal

There’s one election promise Ruto was swift to keep and put into motion, though, despite the fact it could prove unpopular with Beijing. He reversed one of his predecessor’s most controversial policies.

During his presidency, Kenyatta had transferred cargo-clearing operations to the Nairobi and Naivasha inland container depots from the coastal city of Mombasa.

Traders had to use the Chinese-built Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to ferry goods to Nairobi and Naivasha, with the government saying it was a faster way of transporting goods and would decongest the port of Mombasa.

Some say Kenyatta’s move was motivated by the need to boost traffic on the railway and drive revenue for debt repayment to China. His decision cost thousands of jobs in Mombasa, but with Ruto’s reversal of the policy, critics worry the debt repayment burden for the $3.6 billion SRG will now fall on the Kenyan taxpayer.

“Now importers and their customers are being given the liberty to choose the mode of transport they prefer … that means the SGR has to become more efficient and competitive rather than getting favors from government,” said Cliff Mboya, a Kenyan researcher at the China Global South Project think tank.

“That means that [Ruto] is willing to do the right thing, whether it works for China or not, and that is telling,” he added.

But in terms of one of Ruto’s other major campaign promises – to publish private contracts with China – Mboya said he doubted the president would be able to make it happen.

“Even if he wants to do it, it won’t be easy. It would be a serious diplomatic crisis,” said Mboya. “I know that senior Chinese government officials have already intimated that publishing these contracts goes against the contractual agreements.”
…

your ad here

South Africa, one of the continent’s most industrialized nations, is facing the worst electricity blackouts in its history. One of South Africa’s biggest industries — mining — is turning to solar power to keep operations running when power requirements fall short. Linda Givetash reports from Johannesburg
…

your ad here

A frail 87-year-old Rwandan accused of encouraging and bankrolling the country’s 1994 genocide goes on trial at a United Nations tribunal Thursday, nearly three decades after the 100-day massacre left 800,000 dead.

Félicien Kabuga is one of the last fugitives charged over the genocide to face justice, and the start of his trial marks a key day of reckoning for Rwandans who survived the killings or whose families were murdered.

Naphtal Ahishakiye, the executive secretary of a genocide survivors’ group known as Ibuka, said it’s never too late for justice to be delivered.

“Even with money and protection, one cannot escape a genocide crime,” Ahishakiye said in Rwanda ahead of Thursday’s trial at the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague.

The mass killing of Rwanda’s Tutsi minority was triggered on April 6, 1994, when a plane carrying President Juvénal Habyarimana was shot down and crashed in the capital Kigali, killing the leader who, like the majority of Rwandans, was an ethnic Hutu. Kabuga’s daughter married Habyarimana’s son.

The Tutsi minority was blamed for downing the plane. Bands of Hutu extremists began slaughtering Tutsis and their perceived supporters, with help from the army, police, and militias.

Kabuga’s 15-page indictment alleges that, as a wealthy businessman with close links to the Hutu political elite, he incited genocide through the broadcaster he helped establish and fund, Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM). He’s also accused of having paid for weapons, including machetes, used by militias to slaughter Tutsis and their perceived supporters.

The indictment says Kabuga and others at the radio station “operated RTLM in a manner that furthered hatred and violence against Tutsi and others perceived as ‘accomplices’ or ‘allies’ … and agreed to disseminate an anti-Tutsi message with the goal to eliminate the Tutsi ethnic group in Rwanda.”

In some cases, the broadcaster provided locations of Tutsis so they could be hunted down and killed, according to the indictment.

“RTLM broadcasts glorified this violence, celebrating killings, praising killers and encouraging perpetrators to continue the violence at roadblocks and other locations,” the indictment says.

It also accuses him of arming and supporting Hutu extremist “Interahamwe” militias, including one unit known as “Kabuga’s Interahamwe.”

Kabuga is charged with genocide, incitement to commit genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide as well as persecution, extermination and murder. He has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

After years of evading international efforts to track him down, Kabuga, who had a $5 million bounty on his head, was arrested near Paris in May 2020. He was transferred to The Hague to stand trial at the residual mechanism, a court that deals with remaining cases from the now-closed U.N. tribunals for Rwanda and the Balkan wars.

Kabuga’s lawyers argued unsuccessfully that he was not fit to stand trial. However, on the advice of doctors who examined Kabuga, the process will run for just two hours per day.

Yolande Mukakasana, a genocide survivor and writer who lost her entire family in the genocide, said the case has come too late for many survivors who have died since the slaughter.

“Men and women of Kabuga’s age were found in bed and murdered. Shame (upon) his sympathizers who cite his old age as a reason not to (stand) trial,” she said.

Genocide survivor Justin Rugabwa told The AP that five members of his family escaped into hiding for several days during the genocide until Kabuga’s radio station revealed their whereabouts.

“When their names were read out on radio and hiding places revealed, the militias came and all died that day,” Rugabwa recalled.
…

your ad here